Solved Printer running low on toner. Continue using it?

Wisewiz · Apr 20, 2022

My not-too-old Brother HLL2390DW mono laser printer recently began showing "low toner" in the printer screen, and began throwing up a banner on my network-connected PCs when we print from any of them: Your printer requires attention. Toner is low.

My question is this: Can I keep using the old cartridge and ignoring the warnings until a document comes out of the printer with its characters all in grey, rather than black? I have the replacement cartridge in hand, but would like not to waste my toner. Will it harm my printer in any way to keep using the old cartridge until it's used up enough so that it can no longer make good copies?

Thanks for any knowledgeable advice.

Dan

Wynona · Apr 20, 2022

Wisewiz said:
My not-too-old Brother HLL2390DW mono laser printer recently began showing "low toner" in the printer screen, and began throwing up a banner on my network-connected PCs when we print from any of them: Your printer requires attention. Toner is low.

My question is this: Can I keep using the old cartridge and ignoring the warnings until a document comes out of the printer with its characters all in grey, rather than black? I have the replacement cartridge in hand, but would like not to waste my toner. Will it harm my printer in any way to keep using the old cartridge until it's used up enough so that it can no longer make good copies?

Thanks for any knowledgeable advice.

Dan

Dan, use the toner cartridge until it will no longer print. In the meantime, you are right to have replacement cartridge so you can install it once the old one ceases to work.

Wisewiz · Apr 20, 2022

Thanks, Wynona. I'm sure it's nothing at all like running my car on fumes until the dirtiest gas in the tank is in the engine. But I just didn't know about toner. This is only my second laser printer and I love it, so I didn't want to harm it in any way just because I happen to be ignorant about the "low toner" condition.

Bree · Apr 20, 2022

Wisewiz said:
Can I keep using the old cartridge and ignoring the warnings until a document comes out of the printer with its characters all in grey, rather than black?

Yes. Toner plays no part in keeping the printer's mechanics serviceable. It just supplies the toner dust to be picked up by a static charge on the paper, then run through a heated roller to fuse it to the paper. Insufficient toner just means there will be little or nothing to fuse to the paper, but in no way should a lack of toner damage the machine.

Wisewiz · Apr 20, 2022

Thanks, Bree. I sorta, kinda understand the process of laser printing, but I still thought it might be remotely possible that if there were no toner, the roller would complain. I'm comfortable now.

jvickers · Apr 20, 2022

Wisewiz said:
My not-too-old Brother HLL2390DW mono laser printer recently began showing "low toner" in the printer screen, and began throwing up a banner on my network-connected PCs when we print from any of them: Your printer requires attention. Toner is low.

My question is this: Can I keep using the old cartridge and ignoring the warnings until a document comes out of the printer with its characters all in grey, rather than black? I have the replacement cartridge in hand, but would like not to waste my toner. Will it harm my printer in any way to keep using the old cartridge until it's used up enough so that it can no longer make good copies?

Thanks for any knowledgeable advice.

Dan

Sure. Run it all out. Sometimes, if you take out the toner cartridge and shake it from side to side, it will buy a little more toner life as well.

Wisewiz · Apr 20, 2022

jvickers said:
Sure. Run it all out. Sometimes, if you take out the toner cartridge and shake it from side to side, it will buy a little more toner life as well.

j: Does that suggest the warnings will stop for a bit?

WXC · Apr 20, 2022

Wisewiz said:
j: Does that suggest the warnings will stop for a bit?

Hi, Wisewiz.

Likely not. Since it's already past that mark. But as everyone has suggested above, run it dry.

Good for you, for having the forethought to have extra on hand.

Best regards.

Wisewiz · Apr 20, 2022

@WXC

Forethought is too noble a word. My first laser printer died before I exhausted the cartridge it came with (but after several years of excellent service), so I had no experience with this "low toner" warning, and I decided when I saw it for the first time that now was the time for all good men to act, and I ordered a replacement, which arrived today, and that arrival prompted me to wonder whether I should go ahead and put it in or wait a bit. It's still printing beautifully, and I think I'll take jv's advice and give 'er a gentle shake, just to see whether I can get some more mileage out of 'er. Sometimes a gentle shake of something (or someONE) is just what's needed.

Thanks for your encouragement. I'm gonna run it till it's no longer viable. I'm not a poor man, but I am alarmed by the costs of toner and ink cartridges. The prices for printers, on the one hand, and refills, on the other, proves that the companies are not really in the PRINTER business; they're in the refills business.

stormy13 · Apr 20, 2022

Not sure if you know about it or not but if you type the printer's IP address into any browser you should get a status page something like this,

Wisewiz · Apr 20, 2022

Didn't know that; tried it; it works. But I already knew I had a very low level of toner (which the status page showed), so the status report added nothing to the readout on the printer itself and the banner pop-ups on the three computers that use the printer wirelessly. Thanks for telling me about that, though. I'll use it down the road. I always thought that you had to use the junkware that printer installations install, to get a measure of remaining toner/juice.

stormy13 · Apr 20, 2022

Did you poke around while there? It shows a lot more than just toner levels.

Wisewiz · Apr 20, 2022

Tomorrow. But thanks. Now it's time to make dinner. For me and the missus.

We have to have dinner served and consumed in time to watch Jeopardy! The Canadian woman is doing such a superb job I can't believe her, and Ken Jennings is obviously intrigued by her. His "extremely Canadian" and "Canada is known for maple syrup, mounties, poutine, ... our beloved Alex Trebek, ..." intros were wonderful. O, Canada!

WXC · Apr 21, 2022

Wisewiz said:
@WXC

The prices for printers, on the one hand, and refills, on the other, proves that the companies are not really in the PRINTER business; they're in the refills business.

I certainly don't disagree there!

Best regards.

Try3 · Apr 21, 2022

Wisewiz said:
I am alarmed by the costs of toner and ink cartridges

Dan,

The [UK] Consumers' Association ["Which"] ran a survey on third-party ink cartridges & toner. They concluded that there is no quality / technical / cost benefit in sticking to manufacturers' brand ink or toner.
The ink that printer firms don't want you to use - Which
The best laser printer toner - Which
One exception to note is HP's Instant Ink plan [a subscription scheme] which has remarkably low charges. Costs can apparently work out as almost half of standard retail prices. HP post you new ink when needed [usage is monitored & reported back to HP by the printer's control centre]. One price I saw mentioned was £9.99 a month for usage of 300 pages a month [with rollover facilities of up to three months].

I'm almost in the same boat as you.
- I'm still using the toner that the printer came with four years ago. Its main use is as a very good scanner because I hardly ever need to print anything out these days; I printed a page this afternoon & I printed out two pages in January.
- I am getting an occasional faint printout on black typing.
- I am not getting any low toner warning yet.
- I'll keep trying the shaking trick until the black toner is exhausted.
- I've bought a complete set of third-party large capacity toner replacements from Office World. They were given decent ratings in the Which review and happened to be the ones I found the lowest known-name prices for in Amazon [UK].
- The set should have cost only £49 but I took the additional risk of buying from the Amazon [UK] Warehouse [i.e. returned goods] so it only cost me £35. I'll be glad to get the chance to try them out.

All the best,
Denis

larc919 · Apr 21, 2022

Wisewiz said:
The prices for printers, on the one hand, and refills, on the other, proves that the companies are not really in the PRINTER business; they're in the refills business.

That's the reason I bought a 3rd party refill for my Brother laser printer. It works perfectly for only about a quarter of what Brother would have charged.

Ed Tittel · Apr 21, 2022

@stormy13: thanks for the info. It's like accessing a router or WAP over the network but of course focuses on printer relevant info. Works for both of my network-attached printers, and glad of it. Blogged about this today: Printer IPv4 Address Produces Reports. Good stuff!
--Ed--

The-Hive · Apr 21, 2022

I agree with @Wynona Back when I was working our printer did exactly the same so we turned off notifications and used it until it ran out. Always have a spare ready to go in. The price of Toner and ink cartridges in the UK is crazy so get every last drop out of them

stormy13 · Apr 21, 2022

As far as toner cartridges go, I picked up this one for my 2390DW and it has been working flawlessly,

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B082HFWXW4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

which is a 3 to 1 savings over direct from Brother (and a couple of dollars less on Amazon, $89 instead of $100),

Brother TN760 High Yield Mono Laser Toner Cartridge

You'll always be prepared to print with this high yield black toner cartridge on hand.

www.brother.ca

The-Hive · Apr 21, 2022

stormy13 said:
As far as toner cartridges go, I picked up this one for my 2390DW and it has been working flawlessly,

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B082HFWXW4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

which is a 3 to 1 savings over direct from Brother (and a couple of dollars less on Amazon, $89 instead of $100),

Brother TN760 High Yield Mono Laser Toner Cartridge

You'll always be prepared to print with this high yield black toner cartridge on hand.

www.brother.ca

We bought cheap ones at work once and it leaked and ruined the printer. As for my home one, I print so little I just by genuine Canon ones, just bought a pack of all 4 cost £56

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